Standing Up and Not Standing Up Against Hatred and Worse

“Dear PoPville,

The bystanders who stood up for the guy being verbally attacked are my new heroes. The guy yelling is an ass (I recommend watching the video above, because the WaPo story doesn’t do it justice)”

Another reader writes:

“After [Thursday’s] altercation and several leading up to this week; I am seeking any advice/opinion I can find. The issues on metro (for me specifically) used to be few and far between…an issue I could seemingly avoid or somehow convince myself it was too infrequent to take immediate action. I say…just get home, take your dog for a walk and forget about the negativity.

Unfortunately, the metro buses have become increasingly hostile based solely on the color of skin since the election results this week.

This particular occurrence was on the back end of a double connector bus, X2 line; Three females, roughly 15-16 years of age. They got on the bus two stops after me in Chinatown and for the next 20 min until my stop ..they purposely sat beside / behind me…leaned extra hard into me at every ‘bump’ or turn (sometimes there wasn’t even a turn) and called me every white slur name they could think of …I put in my head phones to drown out the hate but I could feel her head close to mine in the seat behind me and she continued her mission to make me feel less than. When I ignored the comments she threw her trash into my seat. As I stood up to get off at my stop her friend blocked me in my seat so the other friend could scream ‘I know you’re a trump supporter **** insert words of choice’ …As she stood up and puffed out her chest…ready to fight… I knew any response/correction to her statement would be ignored and feed into her anger. Three against one..my odds weren’t good and fighting isn’t really my thing..Luckily the bus was crowded enough once I pushed my way around one person, there were several people now between us and I could exit the back door. I didn’t notice any adults on the bus make an attempt or comment to stop their behavior…equally as disappointing. I never know when a situation on the metro bus will escalate and violent behavior will follow…there seems to be no method of proactive protection on the bus lines and major over crowding during metro work. The road to Jan’s inauguration will be a long journey…I don’t see our communities frustration subsiding any time soon.

Politics aside, I see that a large majority of this city is disheartened with the election result, myself included. Everyone is entitled to their opinion; but I know a greater divide based on the color of skin will not make Mr. President elect disappear.

Race is often a touchy subject and tends to get very heated in an open comment forum…truly not the topic I hope to entice with my concern to you. I need to know what happened to metro’s safety push a while back and where are they now??

To voice concern, I have phoned any online numbers found and inquired about metro law enforcement on the large buses. I was informed they ‘can place officers in areas but not necessarily on buses’. Since areas of the redline are down, the bus is my only option to work now. The drivers ignore the yelling because that’s what they are trained to do.

Going forward, my skin color can’t change. I hope to ride home without being bullied, have objects thrown at me, pushed or called an ‘insert expletive and derogatory word’ as a ‘clear Trump supporter’. I only see the hostility growing if this week was any sort of forecast.

Who else can be contacted? Why can’t anything be done NOW by metro?

I know I’ve read articles/rider polls regarding metro safety but have never noticed a change with metro buses. As stated earlier – what can change with metro to make this a safe commute for the DC community?